


From The Outside

by sobefarrington



Category: Breakout Kings
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-06
Updated: 2012-12-06
Packaged: 2017-11-20 10:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/584577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sobefarrington/pseuds/sobefarrington
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie notices what the others don't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From The Outside

Charlie sat at his desk, flipping through a case file, pretending to read it. He had already, and he was in no need for a refresher. He just needed to make it look like he was working while he spied on his staff.

Julianne and Lloyd were the only two left – aside from Charlie – in the building. Ray had taken Shea and Erica out to meet the family of their runner to get a little information from them before time ran out. Julianne was still working miracles from her laptop and Lloyd was keeping himself busy trying to analyze their escapee based on previous psychological evaluations and paintings the man had done. Charlie opted to stay behind, citing work that had to be done, but knowing it was full well because of ulterior motives.

Charlie was beginning to feel bad. It had started a few months prior when he conned Julianne into watching Lloyd overnight at some sleazy dive motel off highway six. He hadn’t felt bad calling her there, or leaving her there, or finding her cuddled with the convict upon his arrival back there. It was after they had all left there the next morning that he began to have pains in his chest. At first he attributed it to his heart condition, until he realized this particular incident the heart condition was remorse.

He felt he knew Julianne pretty well, and Lloyd too for that matter, so he was a little shocked to find them paired up in each other’s arms. He expected such behavior from   
Lloyd – which was why he insisted the boy wonder sleep in the chair in the first place – but he was at awe by how comfortable Jules seemed to be with Lloyd. Something she wasn’t with anyone else.

Charlie became curious and weary by Julianne’s new found confidence. So today he decided to stay behind and observe the goings on that occurred when he wasn’t there.  
And what he discovered he couldn’t believe. Julianne had been tense most of the day. Her shoulders remained ridged and square, her posture was stiff and uncomfortable. She didn’t look Charlie in the eye when he spoke to her and she knocked her coffee over twice before lunch. She was her usual self.

Lloyd as well. He was a bit fidgety and always wired, his hands shaking with every idea he concocted. He offended Shea and Erica each once and the team as a whole three times before lunch. Lloyd was on par for a normal day.

But after sandwiches and more coffee Ray and the other two took off, leaving Charlie alone with Lloyd and Jules. The room cleared of half its occupant, leaving Lloyd and Julianne essentially alone in the large space. Both had plenty of breathing room and personal space was in abundance. And that’s when they changed. They were both relaxed and calmed. And as physically close as they could be. 

Lloyd had encroached upon her, leaning in over her shoulder to read the computer screen and stretched his arm to follow his gaze as he held a painted picture that vaguely resembled the scenery Julianne was displaying. As if it was a habit decades old, Julianne leaned back into him, pushing her chair slightly until it squeaked and her head rested in between his head and shoulder. Lloyd pointed to specific tree on the screen and showed her the duplicate on the canvas. He compared brush strokes to the wood grain and she smiled when his arm began to tire and he rested it outstretched parallel on hers. Together they assessed color combinations and discussed the meaning of the inclusion of a garden shed in the painting that wasn’t in the photo. Julianne turned to look him in the eye when she asked about the quality of the painting from an artistic   
value and the pair of them laughed when Lloyd became tongue tied. Moments later, getting back on track, Julianne asked about the significance of the shed in the painting. 

She watched Lloyd with intrigue as he rambled about the segregation of childhood memories and the subconscious until he came to a conclusion he was ecstatic about. Lloyd smiled, dropping the painting on Julianne’s desk. In his excitement, he spun her around in her chair, grasping her face between his hands and kissing her forehead with a loud, over-exadurated ‘mmmmwuah’ and snatched the painting back into his hands.

Their childish flirtations brought Charlie back to his first semester of junior year, when he first met Marisol. He’d spend the three months of Algebra trying to win her affections. Borrowing pencils and gently touching her hand as his passed hers. Moving his desk closer to hers before she arrived in class and the pair of them laughing off the awkwardness. 

Charlie recalled how he felt for his now wife then. The butterflies that swarmed his insides on a daily basis. How is every thought was about her. How to be closer to her, spend more time with her.

It was clear that Lloyd had feelings for Julianne. Charlie had expected as much from all the male convicts who’d not seen a pretty lady in years. But what was now apparent to Charlie was how much Julianne wanted Lloyd in return. Even if the pair didn’t see it themselves.

“CHARLIE!” Lloyd hollered, slamming the painting and part of himself into the window that separated Charlie’s office from the main area.

Startled, Charlie snapped out of his trance and focused his attention on Lloyd.

“I got him Charlie!”

Lloyd was frantically pointing to the shed in the picture while Charlie was paying attention to Julianne, smiling away to herself while tucking a rogue hair behind her ear.

“Good work Lloyd.”

 

He now understood Lloyd’s insistence on another five minutes. While Charlie joined the drama club and Marisol started attending football games, there wasn’t much Lloyd could do to see Julianne, and vice versa.

Charlie thought about how he’d feel if he’d not been able to see his then girlfriend for any length of time and his heart broke. He watched Lloyd dance off, proud of his accomplishment all the while knowing the more he helped the sooner he’d be back in the slammer. Away from the team. Away from Julianne.

It was as the phone rang that Charlie decided. He answered Ray’s call, determined with his new challenge of finding a way to get Lloyd and Julianne together.


End file.
